FIRST THINGS FIRST
Welcome to Open Note Grappling.
Every Tuesday morning I send out a breakdown of the best combat sports action. In less than 10 minutes you'll learn how the top fighters win and anything else fighters, martial artists, and fight fans need to know.
Youssef Zalal fights this weekend. He has one of the coolest styles you can find in fighting so we’re going to look at how his footwork creates such an entertaining style.
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Now let’s get into it.
What's In Today's Letter?
YOUSSEF ZALAL:
A Young Veteran With Unique Craft
Youssef Zalal is one of my favorite fighters to watch. He should be one of your’s too.
Zalal is a 29 year old Moroccan man. He’s billed as a kickboxer but he fights like someone native to mixed martial arts. He has a unique style that falls off of flawless footwork.
Zalal originally came to the UFC in 2020. It was clear that he was playing with different tools from his first fight.
Zalal is circling. Lingo cuts him off. Zalal pops Lingo with a jab and escapes to his right. Zalal circles and jabs again. He lands a right kick. Lingo swings a hook. Zalal ducks and circles out. Lingo cuts him off again. Zalal ducks into a single leg when Lingo throws his left. He runs the pipe to put Lingo on his butt.
Youssef Zalal - Austin Lingo
Punches, kicks, head movement, and constantly moving quick feet. This stuff is rare for a sport like mixed martial arts where all out offense is often the only thing rewarded.
Zalal quickly rattled off three wins. Everyone saw him as a young prospect who would be a key part of the featherweight division for the decade. Then he ran into another man who fit that description.
Zalal throws a jab before landing a right leg kick. Topuria swings back with left and right hooks that miss their targets. Zalal tries to step up into a knee. Topuria runs through it for a double leg.
Youssef Zalal - Ilia Topuria
Zalal became the first man to make it to a decision against the future two division champion with this loss. He showed a blend of fundamentally sound grappling and urgent offense in this fight in the process.
Zalal removes Topuria’s hook as he turns in to put Topuria on bottom. He stands up and Zalal gets in his face to hold him on the fence. Zalal throws a right and a left. Topuria circles. Zalal sticks him on the fence with two lefts and a right. Topuria pushes out of the clinch. Zalal steps back to southpaw to throw two rights before a left high kick.
Youssef Zalal - Ilia Topuria
Zalal would lose his next two fights. Then he dropped a majority decision. After three wins, three losses, and a single draw, the UFC decided to cut him.
Zalal went on to get three stoppages in regional MMA, a boxing decision win, and another kickboxing stoppage win. That earned him a second shot in the UFC. Zalal has made good on their decision and put together one of the most eye-catching runs you can find.
FIGHTING FEET FIRST:
Making The Opportunity For Offense
Footwork is fighting’s great equalizer. Your ability to generate force for any movement comes from the ground up. If your feet aren’t set you can’t move, attack, or defend.
But footwork is not a one size fits all binary of good and bad.
Dominick Cruz made a hall of fame career out of walking around the cage, bobbing and weaving away from, and into his own, strikes. He would step his feet together before bouncing out wide in either direction. He switched and slid as he slapped out punches and shot takedowns. His unorthodox footwork facilitated unorthodox striking.
Georges St-Pierre’s footwork was as orthodox as it comes. He stood strong with his left leg forward, pushing off the floor into hard jabs and powerful takedowns. Sure he would throw the odd superman jab here and there, but he always returned to his orthodox roots.
Your footwork needs to power your game. That’s exactly where I’d start with Zalal’s unique offense.
Pay attention to how Zalal switches between lead legs in these clips.
Zalal is orthodox. He jabs, slides away, and lands a right leg kick as Billy Q comes in. Zalal switches and circles out. Billy Q cuts him off. Zalal lands a left to the body and steps back to orthodox to jab, leg kick, and circle. Zalal lands a right to the body as BIlly Q misses a punch. Zalal lands a left and a right. Billy Q tries an over hand right as Zalal steps forward to throw a left knee.
Youssef Zalal - Billy Quarantillo
Zalal hit the head, body, and legs with feet and hands and Billy Q couldn’t put a clean punch on him. Here’s some images of what Zalal was doing to create openings for the key strikes.
Zalal is standing orthodox and circling to his right
Zalal flattened his stance to circle to his left because Billy Q cut him off
Billy Q cut Zalal off again so Zalal stepped back into southpaw
Zalal steps his lead foot outside Billy Q’s lead foot to line up a straight left
Zalal steps back to orthodox, switching his stance
Zalal pushes off his back leg for a stiff jab
No wasted movement, perfect balance, and effortless damage. It doesn’t get better than this.
You can’t just stand in front of Zalal to goad him into trading with you either. He’ll slide and sting as long as you’re stationary.
Zalal tries a step up right knee. Shore tries to slide away so Zalal puts his right leg down in front to throw a left hook, right knee, and another left hook. Zalal throws a jab in front of a left hook. Zalal slides just out of the way of Shore’s right leg kick before hopping into a left hook to the body.
Youssef Zalal - Jack Shore
Zalal’s tricky stance switching makes it hard to put a strike on him. The distance of the targets is constantly changing. So while you’re trying to find your range, he’s already slapping you around.
Watch him completely defuse Kattar in his one decision win through his second UFC stint.
Zalal throws a left, steps back to southpaw, and stings Kattar with a right. Both men are pawing. Zalal steps his lead leg back to avoid Kattar’s leg kick. Zalal leads with a right hook and tries a left knee. Zalal is sliding away from Kattar’s punches and kicks. Both men are feinting. Zalal throws a jab, a 1-2, steps back to southpaw, throws a right leg kick, and ends with a left body kick.
Youssef Zalal - Calvin Kattar
And as Kattar got more desperate, he opened himself up for Zalal’s opportunistic takedowns.
Kattar is chasing and cutting Zalal off. Kattar is so busy pursuing he can’t set his feet to throw a solid strike. Zalal stops in southpaw. Kattar throws a right leg kick. Zalal steps back to orthodox to throw his own right leg kick. Kattar pursues. Zalal shoots under Kattar’s left punch. Kattar pops back up.
Youssef Zalal - Calvin Kattar
This is one of the most important pieces of Zalal’s game. He shoots under punches as soon as his opponents feel the need to open up strikes.
STANCE AND MOTION:
Takedowns Are All About Timing
Stance and motion in wrestling is wrestling 101. It’s like shadow boxing for wrestling. Stance and motion forces wrestlers to use footwork that creates defensive layers and facilitates offensive action.
This idea of stance and motion is exactly why the “kickboxer” Zalal is a takedown threat. He’s constantly moving with a stance ready to propel action. Whenever an opponent sees an opening for strikes, Zalal is already in on his shot.
This sequence is one of the prettiest blends of striking and takedowns you’ll find in the UFC.
Zalal is orthodox. He throws a right front kick to the face. Instead of stepping back to orthodox he puts his right leg down in front. Now he’s circling with a southpaw stance. Zalal shoots a double when Emmett charges. He immediately hops up to quarter guard with an angle on Emmett’s back.
Youssef Zalal - Josh Emmett
Zalal has also shown solid fundamental clinch fighting to win grappling exchanges when he doesn’t immediately get his opponent off of their feet.
Shore throws an overhand right. Zalal ducks into a double and pushes Shore to the cage. Zalal stands up and puts his forehead into Shore’s chin. Zalal steps behind Shore’s right leg. Shore steps out of it and stands tall. Zalal grabs Shore’s right leg and runs him down to the floor to finish the takedown.
Youssef Zalal - Jack Shore
Without a doubt the coolest part of Zalal’s transitional takedown game is his osoto gari.
Zalal raises his left knee and slaps Billy Q with a left hook. Then he steps up into another left knee. Zalal throws a left hook out, steps behind Billy Q’s left leg, and pushes him over for an exquisite osoto gari. Zalal cross faces Billy Q and steps into his guard to hold him down.
Youssef Zalal - Billy Quarantillo
That sequence might actually be the prettiest blend of striking and takedowns you’ll find in the UFC.
FINISHING ON THE FLOOR:
Zalal’s Submission Oriented Offense.
It’s odd that Zalal is billed as a kickboxer. More than half of his wins come from submissions.
Zalal has a gift wrap. He tries to take Emmett’s back. Emmett turns in but doesn’t free his arms. Zalal throws his leg over like he’s going for a triangle but Emmett keeps both shoulders inside. Zalal throws his right leg over Emmett’s head. Emmett tries to stack Zalal so Zalal spins under to finish the arm bar.
Youssef Zalal - Josh Emmett
While this most recent finish was Zalal’s flashiest, he does his best work when he forces his opponent to turn so he can slide in the near hook.
Zalal pushes Errens to the cage. Errens turns away to stand up. Zalal steps behind Errens and slides his bottom hook in on the right side. Errens stands so Zalal switches to a body triangle. Zalal gets his right arm across Errens neck to get a rear naked choke.
Youssef Zalal - Jarno Errens
Zalal knows that if he can stack his opponents they’ll turtle. When they do, he can simply slide his near hook in.
Billy Q’s guard is open. Zalal is stacking him and tapping in strikes. Billy Q throws up a triangle. Zalal shrugs out of it and forces Billy Q to back roll to turtle. Zalal throws his near hook in and sags off to that side. Billy Q falls over and Zalal locks up a body triangle to secure back control.
Youssef Zalal - Billy Quarantillo
Zalal would stay on the back to find the finish moments later.
Billy Q starts turning to turtle so he can return to his feet. Zalal has grips on Billy Q’s wrists. Billy Q puts his hands to the mat to get height. But that means he has no hands to defend against Zalal’s rear naked choke. Billy Q turns over only to submit to Zalal.
Youssef Zalal - Billy Quarantillo
And here we can see Zalal putting his strengths together to hurt Jack Shore on the feet and find the finish on the floor.
Zalal drops Shore with a lead right knee. He follows Shore to half guard and hits him to flatten him out. Shore is sitting up with his left arm over Zalal’s back. Zalal drops his chest, puts on a deep cross face, and locks an arm triangle choke. Zalal steps over to mount and drops his right hip to get the finish.
Youssef Zalal - Jack Shore
This weekend Zalal is moving into the main event for his first time in the UFC. He’s fighting former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling. Sterling presents some unique problems for Zalal.
Sterling stands far away to open up room for his own weird kicks coming from all angles. And he’s one of the better wrestlers in the company right now. He’s the only man that’s gotten more than one takedown on Movsar Elvoev in the UFC.
Can Sterling’s own movement and kicks annoy Zalal enough to force him onto a takedown attempt? Or will Zalal keep Sterling off of him with his hands flying from both stances?
I’m just happy that mixed martial arts is still giving us new takes on fighting.
HELP DESK UPDATES:
How To Teach Jiujitsu
I finished writing my first book a few weeks ago. Now I’m going back and forth with audience editors before I release it. That process should be done in a few weeks.
I put one of the book’s chapters on the Help Desk so you can read it early. It’s a system for organizing jiujitsu training sessions and developing a holistic curriculum. It’s a helpful read if you teach jiujitsu, or anything for that matter. You can read that section here.
If you only care about the x’s and o’s of fighting there is an article you’ll want to read before this weekend’s fight card. Click here to read more about attacking the back and why Youssef Zalal’s opponent, Aljamain Sterling, is so good there.
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LINKS, INSTRUCTIONALS, AND MORE MATCHES TO STUDY:
What Are We Talking About Today?
Youssef Zalal’s best knockout from his career is here on Youtube.
Here you can watch his fight against Ilia Topuria. Not bad considering Zalal took on one of the best MMA fighters ever.
If you want a thorough explanation on the osoto gari in MMA watch this video.
THE MOST IMPORTANT NEWS (you might have missed)
UFC Middleweight Champion Khamzat Chimaev has a contract with Real American Freestyle (RAF). No clue how this organization has the money to keep going and sign all of these athletes. No clue if Chimaev will even get a match with them. I am happy to see someone create an avenue for real professional wrestling as long as it lasts though.
Both Paddy Pimblett and Benoit Saint Denis announced they’re fighting on July 11th at UFC 329. Smart money says they’re fighting each other.
2025’s IBJJF World, No Gi World, and Pan American Champion Roosevelt Sousa just tested positive for meldonium. Sousa will face a three year suspension. If meldonium sounds familiar to you it’s probably because star athletes like Islam Makhachev and Maria Sharapova were caught taking it in the past.
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